junkchief

Thanks for the suggestion, NorthWet. Is this something a newbie can do or does it require some tools that would have me dropping the car off a the mechanic on Monday? In the mean time I'll be searching up a storm on crank pulleys.

Thanks for the tip I75eya. I did the alternator test twice .. just to be sure .. and the engine did not sputter or stall when I removed the negative terminal from the battery. The bad boy kept chugging along without a skip. As an update ... this morning when I noticed the coolant tank was empty, I filled it up halfway and about 4 hours later the level is still the same .. of course I haven't been driving it around at all, but just starting and stopping the engine in the driveway. Thanks again.

Thanks for the reply ... Yeah the Legacy is a manual ... I don't know about the engine completely going dead, because I was rolling down the exit ramp and trying to slow down so wasn't stepping on the gas. On the other hand, when I did reach the bottom and stopped at the light, I didn't have to restart the car to make the right and drive into the parking lot ... so I guess the engine stayed alive.. The check engine light was off the whole way home and no sign today either. Will the mechanic be able to get an error code even if the light isn't on?

Sorry forum posting virgin here ... but I had an issue last night that I think maybe you guys on here have some smart advice for me Some background: I have had my Subaru Legacy 1996 since 2004 and it has about 140k miles on it now. It hasn't had any major issues lately and has always been a reliable machine. The Event: So last night around midnight after spending some time with the guys, I was driving home on the freeway/highway/motorway at a leisurely pace (around 55-60 mph) and suddenly my car started to lose power. I had to down shift to get any juice from the car and made it to exit. When I got to the exit ramp, all the lights on the dash lit up (check engine, oil, etc) and my steering got very stiff, but since I was going only 10-20 mph, I was able to control it and continue rolling down the hill to the end of the exit. I down shift all the way to 1st by the time I got to bottom of the exit, but then I noticed I was getting power back. I slowly made a right turn and drove into an empty parking lot and drove around without any noticeable issues. Luckily I was about 2 miles from home and took surface streets home without any issues. I was in 4th gear heading home and rolled down the window, but didn't hear anything out of the normal. When I got home it was too dark to look under the hood, but this morning I popped the hood. The ground under the car was dry, but the bottom of the car looked oily (but I don't know if that has been that way for a while or if it was new). The coolant tank was empty and I think the rest of the oil levels look ok .. the motor oil was a low but not empty. Anyways, the mechanic I would have taken my car to is closed today so I probably won't be able to get it to him till Monday, but maybe someone on here has some ideas of what this may be all about. Thanks in advance and I am finally no longer a posting virgin!!!